Freight, Relationship Carriers: Is My Logistics Partner Legit?
Since Covid, the amount of double brokering and scamming in the freight industry has reached an all-time high. How do you protect your manufactured products from ill-reputed companies and intermediary brokers? Listen to this podcast as Leisa Fox interviews Craig Feller, with Toggle, about this frightening issue.
Toggle, The Iowa Manufacturing Podcast’s first sponsor, can help your organization steer clear of any issues in safely moving your products around the world. The shipper has responsibility here, too. These scammers are looking for loads that are run by companies who don’t follow protocol. For more information, visit http://www.drivetoggle.com or call 515-954-2525.
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Toggle: Service With No Shortcuts
Craig Feller, Senior Vice President at Toggle, and Leisa Fox this week on the podcast discuss the difference between being a logistics partner and a freight broker. The conversation shifts to focus on how brokers treat and partner with shippers and carriers.
Brokers who lack a “relationship carrier,” Craig says, tend to only look for the cheapest solutions and focus just on their own cost structuring, rather than building that trust and credibility. That doesn’t go far to help anybody – encouraging people at work, improving profitability, bettering lives, and the transportation, logistics and manufacturing sectors.
Freight Logistics and Relationship Carriers: A Conversation
Toggle’s value propositions are tied to prioritization – the well-being of truckers and aim of always improving their lives by treating them with greater respect, and offering better runs. In contrast, double brokering happens when a freight organization acts as an intermediary working with both shippers and carriers. Operating as a so-called “shell” company, many are non-domestic and will never even inform the shipping party, even subcontracting the transportation work to another entity.
A Closer Look at US Freight and the Economy
The nation is served by freight. According to US DOT Bureau of Transportation statistics, the freight crisscrossing the country is primarily driven by geographic distribution of population and economic activity. Between 2000 and 2021, the US population grew by 17.6% to 331.8 million people. From 2000 to 2020, the U.S. economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 40.3% in real terms, adjusted for inflation.
There are more than 7.9 million business establishments, 90,000 governmental units and approximately 130 million American households that, together, form this part of our economy, and high expectations for the efficient movement of freight. Through the scope of US international trade, this segment outpaced the overall economy, reflecting global interconnectivity that had previously been unprecedented.
In 2020, the Mideast and Far West regions posted the highest GDP per capita.
The World of Double Brokering, Co-Brokering: A Big Scam?
Double brokering has been on the rise, too, especially after COVID-19. This gray hat technique can lead to issues such as stolen loads shipments, going uninsured, not getting paid, amid myriad of other problems. Craig emphasizes the importance of verifying carriers and drivers, following proper procedures, partnering on trust, and building more unshakable relationships in the industry.
Craig additionally highlights Toggle’s use of technology to vet carriers and provide transparency to shippers. This week’s episode features discussion on the challenges and rewards of working in the transportation industry, too.
More information can be found at www.drivetoggle.com. Or by calling and asking for Craig at 515-954-2525.